Data from: Fire increases genetic diversity of populations of Six-lined Racerunner

Wildfires are highly variable and can disturb habitats, leading to direct and indirect effects on the genetic characteristics of local populations. Florida scrub is a fire-dependent, highly fragmented, and severely threatened habitat. Understanding the effect of fire on genetic characteristics of the species that use this habitat is critically important. We investigated one such lizard, the Six-lined Racerunner (Aspidoscelis sexlineata), which has a strong preference for open areas. We collected Six-lined Racerunners (n=154) from 11 sites in Highlands County Florida and defined two time-since-last-fire categories: recently burned and long unburned. We screened genetic variation at six microsatellites to estimate genetic differentiation and compare genetic diversity among sites to determine the relationship with time-since-last-fire. A clear pattern exists between genetic diversity and time-since-last-fire in the absence of strong genetic differentiation. Genetic diversity was greater and inbreeding was lower in sites with more recent time-since-last-fire, and genetic characteristics had significantly larger variance in long unburned sites compared to more recently burned sites. Our results suggest that fire suppression increases variance in genetic characteristics of the Six-lined Racerunner. More generally, fire may benefit genetic characteristics of some species that use fire dependent habitats and management efforts for such severely fragmented habitat will be challenged by the presence of multiple species with incompatible fire preferences.野火具有高度变异性，可对栖息地造成干扰，进而对本地种群的遗传特征产生直接与间接影响。佛罗里达灌丛（Florida scrub）是一类依赖火的、高度破碎化且面临严重威胁的栖息地。明晰火对依赖该栖息地的物种遗传特征的影响，具有至关重要的学术与实践意义。本研究选取其中一种对开阔生境具有强烈偏好的蜥蜴——六线鞭尾蜥（Six-lined Racerunner，学名Aspidoscelis sexlineata）作为研究对象。我们在佛罗里达州高地县的11个采样点采集了154只六线鞭尾蜥，并依据末次火后间隔时长将采样点划分为两类：近期过火区与长期未过火区。我们对6个微卫星（microsatellites）位点的遗传变异进行分型检测，以评估种群遗传分化程度，并比较各采样点间的遗传多样性差异，进而明晰其与末次火后间隔时长的关联。在未出现显著遗传分化的情况下，遗传多样性与末次火后间隔时长之间存在清晰的关联模式。相较于长期未过火的采样点，近期过火区域的遗传多样性更高，近交（inbreeding）程度更低；且长期未过火区域的种群遗传特征方差显著大于近期过火区域。本研究结果表明，火灾抑制会提升六线鞭尾蜥种群遗传特征的方差。更广泛而言，火可能对部分依赖火栖息地的物种的遗传特征产生积极影响；而对于这类高度破碎化的栖息地的管理工作，将因存在多种火偏好不相容的物种而面临严峻挑战。